


Shifting Sands

by cnidarian



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Friendship, Het, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-08-26
Updated: 2008-08-26
Packaged: 2017-10-18 02:48:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/184187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cnidarian/pseuds/cnidarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Janet, Cassie and Daniel: seven snapshots.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shifting Sands

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://meg-tdj.livejournal.com/profile)[**meg_tdj**](http://meg-tdj.livejournal.com/).
> 
> Cassie’s age is the subject of some contention. In _Holiday_ 12 is mentioned, which makes her 15 in _Rite of Passage_. The cake has 14 candles, but that’s obviously wrong, and 16 seems to be the accepted age (canonically?) presumably based on the fact that she’s seen kissing a ~~stinky stinky~~ boy. *helpless gesture* I’m going with 12 in Season 2 for the purposes of this story.
> 
> Spoilers through Season 7, AU at the end.

Janet Fraiser had not been impressed when SG-1 and her new daughter had returned from the park with a dog. The colonel was aware she had allergies, she was certain.

But, she had to admit, looking out the window at the child and the dog – Gretzky, Cassandra had declared – it was a pretty good idea. It gave Cassandra something that was really hers in this strange new world. Gave her a means to forget about the terrible events of recent weeks. It also gave Janet space to watch her, get used to the idea that this child was her responsibility.

At night, she would find herself standing quietly in the doorway to the girl’s room, watching her sleep and swinging between tenderness and terror. She hadn’t prepared herself for being a mother. The house was barely ready to accommodate a child; how was she supposed to ready herself as well?

A knock came at the door. She moved to answer it, a little surprised to find Daniel Jackson standing on her doorstep.

“Doctor Jackson. Come in.” She stood aside and he entered hesitantly.

“How are things going?” SG-1 had become regular visitors to her house, though usually en masse, not individually.

“Oh, fine. She’s outside with the dog. Er, would you like something to drink?” Janet gestured toward the kitchen.

“Uh, yes please. Coffee. Thank you.” Daniel was a fellow coffee addict. She remembered Sam telling her, complaining that someday an enemy would find them offworld by tracking the scent of it.

“Have a seat. Don’t mind the boxes…still haven’t found time to unpack,” she shrugged, embarrassed. “And I can’t see that I’ll be getting 'round to it anytime soon…” She glanced out the window to where Cassandra was playing.

“We all really appreciate you taking her in. I know it must be a huge change for you…” Daniel said, misunderstanding her.

“Oh no, that’s not what I meant! It’s not a chore. It won’t be easy, I’ll admit, but well…I’m glad to help. There really wasn’t any other choice. We can’t foster out an alien child who’s been through as much as she has. And with her medical situation, it made sense for me to take her.” Janet had had this conversation in her head many times.

“Well, I’m very grateful. I’m glad she’s got a home where she’ll be safe and loved.” His voice held a measure of pain, well hidden, and Janet recalled his file and details of foster care homes. She supposed he understood Cassandra’s position better than anyone realised.

“I can call her in..?” Janet suggested when she returned with his coffee.

“No, I just stopped by to see how you’re doing, both of you, and to offer my help if you, uh, need it at all. This is my home number and my cell and…call any time.” He thrust a piece of paper at her awkwardly.

“Thank you.” She was touched by how much support she was being offered. “Sure you don’t want to see her?”

“Yes. It’s probably best I don’t…she’s still getting used to living here I should imagine and I don’t want to…” he trailed off.

She just nodded and they finished their drinks with a silence that was less awkward than she had expected.

After seeing him to the door, she returned to the kitchen and found herself staring at the fridge. On it was a list of foods; an experiment in what a Hankan child would and would not eat. Peas were a hit, spinach was not. Go figure. Some things were evidently universal. Forcing down another wave of trepidation, she went to call Cassandra in for hot chocolate before bed.

~~

When Cassie had been on Earth just over a year, Daniel temporarily ended up in an old man’s body while the old man took Daniel's body out on a spending spree. With a hobo, or so Janet had heard. She’d come to expect these kinds of things to happen to SGC personnel.

There had been real concern for him and, as much as she tried to hide it, Cassie had obviously picked up on it too. She asked question after question about SG-1 until Janet finally had to admit that something was wrong with Daniel. Then Cassie had gotten all quiet and not even Gretzky could cheer her up. This was the downside to the arrangement. Keeping her connected to the SGC meant the people she had come to love and rely on the most were often in danger.

Janet sighed. Daniel was alright now, switched back into the right body via a game of personality musical chairs. SG-1 had invited the two of them along to a celebratory meal, which had gone a long way towards reassuring Cassie. She still seemed a little distant though, silent on the way home in the car. Daniel had offered to drive them and, when they got to Janet’s house, he asked to come in to use the bathroom.

Janet heard the floor creaking in the corridor and the sound of soft voices. She peeked around the corner.

Daniel was kneeling on the floor, Cassie’s arms around his neck.

“—thought you were sick,” she was saying.

“No, I wasn’t sick. And if I was, your mom would make me better. She’s very good at that,” Daniel soothed.

“I know, I had a bad tummy and she stayed up all night with me.” Janet remembered – it had been Cassie’s first proper sickness and she’d been terrified, unsure what medicine the girl could safely be given.

“Yeah, you see? We’re all safe because we’ve got Janet looking out for us,” Daniel said. Janet felt like laughing. Half of the time, she was fumbling in the dark and everyone just expected answers as if she had a reference book on crazy-ass alien maladies.

“They all just lay down and died,” Cassie whispered, and Janet’s heart about broke.

“I know, sweetheart. And nothing I can say will change that. But remember, you are safe here and we all love you very much.” Daniel had gathered her into a tight hug. Cassie buried her face against his shoulder.

“We’d better go back to the kitchen, your mom will be wondering where we are,” Daniel said, standing up.

“She was really worried about you. You gotta be more careful,” Cassie scolded. It was Colonel O’Neill’s phrasing, but Janet was struck by the resemblance to her own mannerisms. She supposed it was a good sign, if a little disconcerting.

The year had been a challenge. Janet getting used to Cassie and Cassie getting used to Janet. While taking the girl in had initially been a case of necessity, Janet soon found herself looking forward to going home to a child who seemed to enjoy seeing her walk in the door. Cassie had a sitter, a lieutenant, for part of the week and then she’d also spend time with Catherine and Earnest to learn about life, the universe and everything. When Janet came to collect her, Cassie would run to greet her. While she’d always see Sam as her best friend and Janet as her mother, Janet found she was totally content with things that way. She’d been completely bowled over by the love she felt for Cassie. When it had come to the final decision on her future, she’d not hesitated for a second before signing the adoption papers. It had felt right. It _did_ feel right.

~~

“Mom!”

“Yes!” The mom thing was relatively new, something Janet had not pressed for at all, though her heart swelled every time she realised Cassie meant her.

“Daniel’s here!”

Oh. She went through to greet him.

“Hey, Daniel. Cass, sweetheart, please can you remember what I said about opening the door?” In the last two years, Cassie had gotten to grips with most of the nuances of life on Earth – cars, scalding hot pizza, slippery bathtubs, etc – but she still resolutely believed in the kindness of strangers.

“I saw him out the window,” Cassie explained.

“Alright then…” Janet said, catching Daniel’s fond smile and giving him a questioning look.

“Do I get a hug?” For a brief instant, Janet thought he was talking to her. Then Cassie threw herself at him and Janet had to turn around to cover her blush.

This last year had been a challenge for entirely different reasons from the first. Janet was fond of Daniel – she thought they all were, really. Some of the marines initially had a problem with the idea of a civilian on the flagship team, but the vast majority of people on base liked him. And for good reason. He was polite, kind, intelligent and endearingly earnest. But of late, Janet had found herself enjoying his company a little more than she felt she ought to be. She kept it in check, though it did tend to rear its head at the most inopportune of moments. Like now, for instance.

Janet turned back and met Daniel’s eyes over Cassie. Jack was still missing and his absence was becoming apparent to Cassie. Then there was Sam and her unwillingness to leave her lab. As such, Daniel had been appearing frequently to join them for dinner. Janet suspected it had as much to do with comforting himself as it did Cassie.

She lifted her eyebrows in question. He shook his head minutely. Still no progress.

Cassie disengaged. “I’ve been helping make dinner. Come see.” She dragged Daniel off by his sleeve.

It had been a pretty fun afternoon in the kitchen, if a little messier than usual. Janet could remember a time when she would have found the spilt flour and pieces of eggshell impossible to work around. Doctors tended to be a little bit anal about mess. But now it didn’t faze her. She just wiped it all down afterward, and got Cassie to put her clothes straight in the machine before packing her off into the shower. Another year had revealed that motherhood suited her. It had been a pleasant surprise.

Then again, Cassie would be fourteen next year. The terrible teenage years. With her late start, Cass was still very much a child, still enthralled by trips to places like the zoo and the ice-rink, but school was having a marked effect on her. Janet feared the day when she would return home and declare that spending time with “old folks” was seriously uncool.

After dinner, it was dark but crisp and clear, so they went for a walk with the dog. While Cassie scampered ahead with Gretzky, Janet and Daniel walked in companionable silence.

“Have you told her?” Daniel asked.

“No, not yet. She knows something is up, but not the specifics.” Like the fact that Colonel O’Neill was stuck light-years away on another planet with no way to get home. Janet stuffed her hands in her pockets.

“What’ll we tell her if we can’t get him back?” Janet felt his question was mostly rhetorical, but answered anyway.

“The truth, or as close as we can get it. I’m not ready to give up on him yet though…” She _was_ prepared to put her foot down before Sam killed herself out of exhaustion, but that was a different matter.

Daniel shook his head. “Me either. But I suppose we can’t keep getting out of these scrapes untouched forever.”

No. Of that, Janet was painfully aware. Sam had become the closest friend she’d ever known. She liked the colonel, most of the time anyway, and Teal’c had become her mental security blanket. She knew he’d keep the team safe and knew she could count on him to tell her, honestly, about injuries sustained by any of them. She had taken care to point out the importance of keeping her in the know. Teal’c had immediately seen the reasoning and become an unrepentant informer. Colonel O’Neill found it incredibly irritating when he discovered that while he could get his alien friend to help out with most things, infirmary breakouts and shenanigans were not amongst them. He even accused her of bribing the Jaffa.

Then there was Daniel. She wasn’t entirely sure what he was to her. A like-minded colleague, a confidante even, and definitely a friend. A newly widowed friend, lest she forget. Her heart ached again for his loss, remembering the ceremony on Abydos and the look on his face as he recited his wife’s funeral rites.

And now, so soon afterwards, he was facing the loss of his best friend. And still he was here, thinking of others before himself.

“Thanks for coming over again Daniel. She’s not seen Sam in weeks.” Janet appreciated the distraction as much as Cassie did.

“Well, I doubt I’m a very good substitute…” he said with a self-deprecating smile.

“I didn’t mean it like that. She enjoys your company in its own right. As do I,” Janet added. She held her breath but Daniel didn’t so much as blink. She relaxed.

“I like being a part of your little family,” he said, turning to her. “I’m sorry I’ve been so…peripheral lately.”

“It’s been a hard few months,” she demurred. He’d been to hell and back. Literally.

“Yeah,” he said, softly, and she knew that was as close as they were coming to talking about it, for now. He’d come to her, when he was ready, and she’d provide coffee and an impartial ear. She gave his arm a squeeze and tried not to think about how it was getting harder to stay detached in that role.

~~

Even nearly four years after joining the Stargate program, Janet never imagined it would take her to Egypt. Which was odd really, considering it sometimes took her to other planets. In fairness, Egypt had been considerably more exotic than the usual standard terra-formed worlds she’d visited.

She was glad to be home though, away from the heat and the flies and the persistent hassling of the local men. She had missed Cassie fiercely.

Speaking to Jack on their return, Janet had learnt that Cassie had been very cross with him and Teal’c for not going with her on the mission with Sam and Daniel. Janet had patted his arm with a grim smile. It certainly explained the dark look Cass had given him over her shoulder – God, she was getting tall – when she’d realised Janet was hurt.

As such, Janet had advised Daniel to stay away for a few days, at least until the worst of the bruising on his forehead faded. Cassie had mostly gotten over her anger by the time he did appear on the doorstep with a bag full of small boxes and one large tub of ice cream.

“Supplies,” he said, handing Janet the ice cream and moving over to the counter to crack open a box of tiny figurines. When Janet returned from the kitchen, she found Cassie whispering excitedly to him as he arranged the plastic figures – painted in full Egyptian dress, she could see now – as per the girl’s instructions. The irony was, as they’d been bouncing a jeep around North Africa, Cassie had been given an assignment on Ancient Egypt. Janet had mentioned it to Daniel and they’d shared an amused, if slightly pained smile. Not a mission that would soon be forgotten.

Now, it seemed, Daniel had taken it upon himself to make Cassie’s model the most historically accurate in the whole class. Or should that be historically _inaccurate_ , since the three of them had no intention of adding any serpent guards. Janet took in the scene. The miniature mock-up of Karnak had looked pretty good already, even if she did say so herself, but populated…it looked amazing.

“Wow, Daniel, when I asked if you could help, I wasn’t expecting you go to these lengths!” Janet exclaimed, causing both heads to turn. Cassie looked delighted, but Daniel’s expression was a mix of sheepishness and an excitement that she’d come to associate with his proximity to archaeologically-themed material.

“Oh, it’s no bother. Really.” The sheepish air grew into a full grin. “I figured I’d best go find the most accurate ones I could, else I’d spend the whole evening itching to re-model them…”

She laughed. At least he was honest.

After the ice cream had been devoured, Cassie announced she also had to write notes to accompany the model and needed to confer with a school-friend.

“Now she tells me,” Janet sighed in mock-despair as Cassie skipped off to her room clutching the phone. So far, being fourteen hadn’t brought any foul moods, for which Janet was grateful. The wide-eyed little girl who’d first stepped into her home three years ago was gone though, replaced by a confident, fully assimilated teenager.

“She’s growing up so fast,” Daniel said, a little wistfully, once they’d settled in the den with a drink, the dog at their feet.

“Tell me about it,” Janet responded.

His forehead creased in sympathy. There was still a shadow of a bruise visible if you knew it was there. Which she did; she had her own bruises to remind her. At least the three of them had returned to the SGC un-Goa’ulded. She instantly felt bad for thinking that when Sarah Gardner was out there in the universe somewhere, a hostage in her own body. Janet shivered at the thought, imagining the horrifying scenario: lost out there, amongst the stars, terrified and a long way from home.

“Cold?” Daniel’s voice brought her back to the present.

“Oh, no, I’m fine. Just thinking.” She saw the understanding cross his face instantly. Sarah had been a friend and an ex-lover – the comparisons to Sha’re’s fate were too obvious to miss. In the mad rush to get Steven Rayner to a hospital, and then the over-tired flight home, she hadn’t had time to really look at him, much less talk.

She took a breath. “Daniel, I’m sorry about Dr. Gardner. And Dr. Rayner. I…I can’t imagine it’s been easy for you.”

“No,” he admitted. “But I got a call from the hospital – Steven is going to make a full recovery.” His jaw tensed a few times. “And Sarah is strong.”

Janet resisted the sudden urge to rub the back of her neck. Instead, she reached over and squeezed his arm gently. To her surprise, he took her hand in his and wove their fingers together.

“Thank you.”

“Whatever for?” she asked, baffled.

“Being you,” he said, simply. “Being here to talk to when I need it. Always knowing what to say and when to stay quiet to let me work it out in my own time. I don’t thank you enough.”

She wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, especially with him looking at her so intently. “Any time,” she managed.

He released her hand. “Going back to Chicago…everything I left behind,” he said, looking beyond her again, gaze unfocused. “And then seeing everything I’ve gained and how I’ve changed.”

She could only nod, thinking of where she had been ten years ago, walking away from a failed marriage.

She felt his hand enclose hers again. “You know, I never seem to find the right words, despite being a linguist,” his lips curled a little, then settled back into a sincere expression. “But I am a pretty good listener, if you ever need anything in return.”

His perceptiveness shouldn’t have surprised her. She nodded. “I know. Thank you,” she said, softly.

They finished their drinks in silence, Janet studiously ignoring the knowing look Gretzky seemed to be giving her. Then, reluctantly, she suggested they both get a good night’s sleep. She thanked him again for helping Cassie and walked him to the door, where he stooped to kiss her cheek, leaving her fighting a blush.

Even after surgically removing the phone from her daughter’s ear, even with her own advice echoing in her head, she found she couldn’t get her brain to stop ticking away. Mistakes of the past, choices of the future, and central to it all: Daniel, and how he managed to affect her so badly. Sleep was a long time coming.

~~

Janet had only been at the Alpha Site a matter of hours, but it seemed a whole lot longer than that. She still couldn’t quite believe it. A nightmare scenario, horrifyingly real that morning, was now back to being nothing more than a bad dream again. One she would be having for a good while, she imagined.

She shut the door behind her. Reached for the phone, only to find her hands shaking too hard to dial the single button that would get her through to Cassie. The receiver clicked back into its cradle.

When the alarm had gone off – absurdly, just a single solitary wristwatch alarm to indicate the end of the world – all Janet could think of was her daughter. It didn’t seem two seconds since she was facing off with the Goa’uld Nirrti, absolutely desperate to save Cassie’s life. It was a loss she simply couldn’t face, and now she had been granted a second reprieve.

About a year ago, not long after the evening with Daniel and the Karnak temple, a new girl had moved into Cassie’s class. Almost overnight, Cassie’s mood changed, though it had taken Janet a while to figure out why. Unfortunately, getting her to talk hadn’t solved the issue. Her grades slipped and things became strained at home.

But then she’d fallen sick with the Hankan mind-fever and, afterwards, the teenage stroppiness all but disappeared. She confessed to not letting the new girl get to her anymore, recounting with delight the disappointment on her face when she didn’t rise to the bait. Her grades came back up and, for the most part, she was once again pleasant to live with.

Janet took a calming breath. Cassie couldn’t find out what had nearly happened, of course, so Janet would need to sound calm and unaffected on the phone, no matter how much she wanted to rush home and gather her into a crushing hug. Then there was the subject of the still-missing SG-1. It was likely that they were behind the miraculous save – it was their trademark move, after all – but General Hammond had cautioned them not to assume anything. Janet herself wouldn’t be happy until she saw all four of them walking out of her infirmary with a clean bill of health.

She didn’t get her wish, not entirely. SG-1 did return, but only after she’d gone home. Instead, she got a call from Doctor Warner, informing her that he was currently watching their retreating figures leaving the infirmary. She silently thanked the powers that be once again for her staff.

With her rotation at the Academy Hospital, it wasn’t until the following weekend that she had gotten to see them all. She tried not to be too disappointed that Daniel hadn’t been over. Sam hadn’t been over either, she had only phoned. Janet wasn’t sure why her heart was treating that any differently. Well, she had an idea, but she was resolutely not thinking about it. She scowled out at the passing cars.

“Will there be a non-meat option?” Cassie was in the passenger seat, picking idly at her nails.

Janet pulled off the main road and into a residential area. “It’s one of the colonel’s barbeques, Cass, I doubt it.”

“I’m thinking of turning vegetarian. I saw a documentary last night.” Out of the corner of her eye, Janet could see Cassie screwing her face up in disgust. “I had no idea!”

“OK, can you hang on until the next shopping trip? And it might be an idea to eat what Jack gives you today, or else expect derisory comments…” Janet warned. Of course, they’d all respect her decision really, but everyone knew the might of SG-1 was steak-powered.

“I can take ‘em,” Cassie replied, nonchalantly.

Janet laughed. She’d trained her well… “Well, I’m sure there’ll be salad; Sam usually tries to get him to eat healthily.”

Janet didn’t specify who the “him” was. She saw Cassie smirking and realised she didn’t need to. Damn. The embryonic conversation, one that Janet really didn’t want to have, was cut off by their fortuitous arrival. Cassie hopped out with the brought dessert, leaving Janet to park.

By the time she caught up, Cassie was already checking bowls for produce of an exclusively vegetable origin, while Colonel O’Neill regarded her with open amusement.

She met Sam’s eye and grinned. Teal’c looked mildly confused, opening his mouth to ask a question that Janet didn’t catch. Sam turned to him, and so missed it when Janet jumped a foot in the air at Daniel’s sudden appearance behind her. He made a grab for the bottle she’d nearly dropped, offering an apology and then rapidly claiming all he could find in the cooler was beer and how glad he was she had brought wine. At the end of his sentence, she found herself taking a breath on his behalf.

“Speaking of coolers…where’s Cass set that dessert?” Janet located it and went inside to put it in the fridge. She turned to find Daniel had followed her in.

He stood a moment, silent in front of her, until she took the wine from him and placed it in the fridge, as well.

“I didn’t want to arouse Cassie’s suspicions by coming to see you both. Not so soon after…” he trailed off. “How are you?”

“I understand,” Janet said with a rush of relief. So, he was feeling guilty about it? She stamped on the errant thought as soon as it appeared. “I had to stop myself rushing home to see her myself. And I’m fine. Re-locating half the infirmary to another planet isn’t quite as difficult as it sounds. Nothing compared to jumping an asteroid through the Earth.”

“That was all Sam’s doing,” he said, with a hint of pride.

Janet started to head back outside, nudging him on the way past. “That’s not what she tells me.”

He shrugged, then hesitated.

“Janet?”

She stopped and turned. He was awkward, suddenly back to being Doctor Jackson offering her his cell number if she ever needed help with a small orphaned alien girl.

“Yes?”

“Erm,” he began. “Last year, in Chicago, an old institute friend suggested I go to their biennial department event. I blithely agreed, not thinking anything would come of it, and yesterday an invitation arrived in the mail. It reads, ‘…and guest’.” He paused and fiddled with the button on his sleeve. “I’m sure going solo is fine, but…I’d prefer not to.”

“When is it?” she asked, giving him a little space. She tried to act casual. He might just be asking advice on how to invite someone along. Someone not her.

“End of next month. Vital SGC incidents permitting.” He smiled a little, relaxing somewhat. “I would ask Sam, but—“

“Jacob’s due to visit,” Janet finished.

Daniel blinked. “He is?”

Janet’s turn to blink. “Yes.”

“Oh. I, I didn’t know.”

Another moment, more awkward than ever.

“I’d rather go with you,” he said, quietly.

Janet bit her lip against the threatening smile. She didn’t want him to think she found any of this amusing. Endearing, maybe.

“Daniel,” she said, causing him to look back up at her. “I’d like that very much. Medical emergencies permitting.”

He smiled at that and she allowed hers to break free.

Her smile lasted for the rest of the afternoon, not least of all because whenever she looked at Daniel, he was smiling too. Not a date, she told herself. But that didn’t seem to stop her heart from singing.

~~

Janet slumped back into her seat as soon as Teal’c and Jonas left her office. Her role was over, for now. It was up to them to find this Dr. Langham. She hoped they’d find him soon, and not just to clear Colonel O’Neill’s name. One of those mimic devices had her name on it.

There was no time to dwell on it – the assassination incident, while the talk of the base, was hardly the only thing going on. She eyed the pile of paperwork on her desk. No rest for the wicked.

Hours later, a call came through requesting medical assistance on Level 16. The holding cells. Apparently Langham had knocked his head rather hard on the sidewalk. Teal’c’s expression gave nothing away. She wasn’t feeling particularly sorry for Langham either, not after he whinged his way through her exam.

Then came the bit she wasn’t looking forward to. Usually, when things happened to the members of SG-1, Janet was able to keep Cassie unaware, for the most part. Other than the classified information rules, it also meant that her daughter wasn’t exposed to the regular stress that came with having people she cared about in frequent and varied danger. Janet felt the stress enough herself without adding Cassie’s to the mix. But this, this was all over the news. Janet could see Cassie at home now, having watched it on TV when she got in, hopping mad with the injustice of it all. Not that she knew any of the particulars, but that wouldn’t stop her declaring the colonel’s innocence at the top of her lungs.

Janet didn’t want to consider what would happen if Sam and Teal’c and Jonas didn’t get to the bottom of this. Losing Jack was just not an option. The SGC had been shaken by the death of its key archaeologist, but Janet was more concerned about her daughter. Cassie had been devastated when Janet got in that terrible, broken evening, heavy with grief and regret.

The mission to Langara hadn’t come long after Janet had gone to Chicago with Daniel for the Oriental Institute dinner. Despite her nerves, she’d had a wonderful time. Cassie was still teasing her about it when Janet had called to tell her Daniel was sick and wasn’t going to be getting better.

Janet sighed. She tried not to think too hard about it, about the what-ifs and maybes, but sometimes when she lay awake at night she wondered.

Pushing back from her desk, she reached for her keys and shrugged out of her lab coat. As she stepped towards the door, the sleeve caught and, before she could react, her coffee mug was lying broken on the floor. She picked up the shards, then stopped. It was a silly doctor cup, hardly a big deal, until she remembered Daniel giving it to her as a celebration of their mutual coffee addiction. At the end of a long day, it was enough to make tears spring to her eyes. _Oh, Daniel_.

~~

The half-cleared mess in the kitchen gave him away. Janet wasn’t complaining though, not when it meant she could stand at the foot of the bed and watch him sleep. Her bed. She was still getting used to that.

She moved back to the door and quietly shut it. Then she slipped out of her work clothes and into her nightshirt. She would have come home earlier if she’d known he’d be there, but Colonel Dixon and his team had returned from an aborted mission two days earlier with a video tape of some ruins, and Daniel hadn’t surfaced since. Not that she could blame him really – most base personnel were keeping a low profile with the television crew snooping around. Even before she'd found his scribbled note on her desk, Janet had figured it out. On SG-13's return, she'd wanted to know exactly how Balinsky had managed to get flecked burns to his face (ducking behind stone ruins whilst being fired upon by something resembling a bad Star Wars prop, apparently) and, after that, she didn't need to guess who would end up with the mission's tape. She knew Daniel well enough to know he’d take the task of translating incomplete records from a ruined Ancient city as a challenge.

Janet looked down at the sleeping figure again. Apparently the lure of a home was enough to drag him away. She sighed happily and climbed in behind him, pressing herself to his warm back and breathing the scent of his skin. He stirred, mumbling something about goldfish. She smiled against his neck.

When SG-1 had come back from Vis Uban with Daniel in tow, Janet had been rendered speechless, despite the advanced alert from General Hammond. After that came the painful realisation that he remembered nothing of his life on Earth. Piece by piece his memory returned until the afternoon he’d walked into her office and looked at her with total recognition. She had been happy to leave it at that, especially since she’d managed to convince herself that any stirrings of something-more were on her behalf only.

Cassie had had other plans though. She’d been the one to talk Janet into asking Daniel to dinner, insisting that Janet make it clear it was a date this time. When she’d asked him, her heart in her mouth, she’d had no idea it would lead to this. This, ten months later, with him partially moved into her house. This, with him partially asleep next to her.

Thank heavens for Cassie.

The sound of the front door opening came from downstairs. Footsteps, then a knock. Janet turned over carefully. Speak of the devil.

“Mom?” Cassie hissed through the door.

“Yes?”

“There’s a man asleep in your bed.” There was an amused edge to Cassie’s voice. “I found him when I got in earlier, so I just left him there. I don’t think he’s a stray, seems pretty well looked after.”

Janet rolled her eyes. “Goodnight, Cass.”

“’Night Mom.” The footsteps moved down the corridor a couple of paces and then, so softly Janet could only just hear, “’Night Daniel.”

Janet smiled to herself and turned back to find Daniel looking up at her, hair sticking out at angles and eyes unfocussed.

“Hey,” he whispered.

She leant down. “Hey yourself,” she replied against his lips. “Had enough of translating?”

He smirked. “Never. But I don’t like waking up alone.”

That was good; neither did she. She rested her head beside his and shifted her fingers through the wayward strands.

“Welcome home.”  



End file.
